Seasons of Love
by X.x.Try.Defying.Gravity.x.X
Summary: Musical/Bookverse cross. Coauthored! What if Elphaba grew up with someone who loved her instead of her parents? Follow a drastically different but yet the same Elphaba and Charmed Circle on their journeys of life, love, and loss. Childhood - post Shiz
1. Memories in a Brass Bound Trunk

_Hi all. I'm __**Beck**__ one of the wonderful authoresses of this story. I'm just here to lay down a few things before we begin. Er obviously - I don't own Wicked (that luccckky lucky right belongs to Gregory Maguire - why do they always think of the good ideas first eh?)_

_So what is this then? This is a sort've Playverse/bookverse fic. There are elements from both of course. This is au and deals with a single concept. What would have changed about Wicked if Elphaba had been loved? However, it adds a twist. Elphaba's parents don't love her but someone else. Elphaba is like no one else in her family, but what if there was someone she WAS like and she never knew? What in her story would change if she grew up differently - what in those who are affected by her's stories' would change? What would Shiz be like? What would happen to the Wizard? Ozian Politics? Who'd wind up with who? - well! Read on to find out! You'll be surprised how very closely this sticks to Wicked .. but yet... changes so much at the same time. We certainly were. Liz and I started plotting this and we're still writing it so if we get delayed on any updates we're sorry we're both busy college students! Please review. We love reviews and we will try to respond to EACH one we get :) You can always include constructive crit (no flames please), nice comments, questions... anything you like. We'll love you for it! aggh I need to stop babbling and just get on with it. I talk too much don't I. That was rhetorical. _

_**Liz - **"What she said!" - FTW! _

_From both of us: Enjoy!!! _

~*~

**Prologue/Chapter One**

~*~

A hand reached out from the depths of a loose sleeve of a cloak. Within the long, slender fingers there was an old metal key that was attached through the tiny hole at the top of it with a fraying ribbon. Once the ribbon had been pink but it was so old and worn now that it was nearly colorless and the edges were fraying away from the material of the ribbon so that the thing wasn't going to last much longer and would need to be replaced with a fresh ribbon, but the woman who held the key did not replace it. The key was old, ornate, carved at the top with the initials of its beholder. The hand that held the key seemed to have an odd verdigris tinged cast to it, but perhaps it was just the shadows of the room- perhaps not. The key click in the lock and the woman slowly knelt to the floor as she ran her palm across the trunk and pulled it back. Her palm was covered in the half inch of dust that'd covered the lid of the trunk. Immediately her nose felt as though it was going to explode and... _Achoo! Achoo! _ahh.. that was better. She reached into her pocket and returned with a black handkerchief which she used to dust off the trunk's lid and sides. It was a very very old trunk. Perhaps it had been a hand-me-down.. perhaps not. There really was no way to know unless you had asked the woman who was currently sitting in front of it- to whom it belonged of course.

The trunk was a nice trunk- or, it had been before it had gotten so old. It had once been a nice trunk - there, that was a better way to put it. The trunk was made of deep stained cherry wood and had brass hinges and locks on it, though those were beginning to corrode now and were somewhat greenish looking. They had tarnished with disuse and age. This trunk had been put away for a long time and she had only, in light of the circumstances, decided to bring it out to remove some important things from it to take with her today. Today was the rest of her life.. the beginning of it anyway and she couldn't help but be nervous about the words she would speak and the vows she would take and the amount of people that would be there to witness the, hopefully, auspicious event. To her good fortune the day was wonderfully sunny and warm and there wasn't a hint of rain in the sky. For this, she was grateful. Rain would only darken a should be cheerful event and she would have to listen to Glinda fussing about the dreary whether all the day long if it were to be grey. She was pleased it wasn't. The sun warmed her limbs and made her less stiff and allowed a small hint of a smile to cross her lips despite her solemn outlook about what she was about to agree to doing in that morning's events.

She finished unlocking the lock - it didn't want to come; it had corroded shut and it took her several minutes to get the thing unlocked and then lift the lid of the trunk. Immediately the smell of sweet cloves interrupted her nostrils and she could remember packing away the cloves inside here so that when she reopened her trunk whether it be months or years, it would still smell as sweet as the day she had packed the relics inside away. It did. She breathed in the sweet smell and couldn't resist the small smile that spread across the lips and revealed one of the dimples in her cheeks that she cursed for being there and had since the day she was old enough to remember having them. She began to pile things out on the floor from her old trunk. It had been a long time since she'd been at Shiz. Many years.. long enough that the papers inside had gone yellow and frail with age. She reached in and pulled out the first artifact and smile softly- a creamy pink card about three and a half by five inches big with a spray of deeper pink flowers at the edge and printed in standoff the paper writing of darker pink. The whole thing was made of a very stiff paper that wouldn't bend. Printed on the front in calligraphic script was Glinda Arduenna of the Upper Uplands, Gillikin (though the last was smaller and beneath the main name). Then, scrunched into the lower corner was, in handwriting,_ "For Elphie - my dearest friend. Though we may be apart please remember, whatever way our stories end, you'll have rewritten mine by being my friend. - Glinda." _The woman smiled at the card and tucked it gently into her glove. A good luck token perhaps?

Carefully she continued through the trunk and removed several old pages in page protectors. They were her own writing, a frenzied dictation of note taking that no one else would have been able to read as they were comprised of her own personal brand of shorthand. The only truly legible thing was, at the top, in larger letters. "A Thesis in the Life Sciences of Animals, animals and Humans by Dr. Dorian Dillamond." She laid these pages aside by the calling card and placed her hand inside the trunk again... Next came out a piece of felt that looked as though it had been ripped from a mask. Then out came a tiny silk baggie that smelled wonderfully - a sachet with the letters G.A. embroidered on it. Then out came a piece of hand crocheted lace that looked as though a working of someone who knew a thing or two about crochet work. Reaching in again the hand came out with a pair of nice leather dress gloves of the slim variety that were black and buttoned at the wrists. Then, wonder upon wonders, the hair comb she hadn't seen in such a long time with a dragon fly on it that had been a birthday gift from Fiyero. She smirked slightly and traded the ivory pin she wore now for the dragon fly comb. It wasn't as dignified, perhaps, but there was nothing else she would rather wear today.

The hand searched again. The eyes misted as she looked through the relics of her past. She bit her lip to avoid crying and ruining the makeup that she had spent so much time on that morning. She normally wouldn't give two cents to her appearance- but today was different. She kept looking. Ah.. pearl earrings - Glinda's. They had traded something. Elphaba remembered that Glinda, had she kept it, was still in possession of a silk shawl. She placed the pearls on the floor with the other things. Ahh.. her photo book. She removed it and looked at all the black pages filled with their black and white photographs of people smiling and posing. "Oh." She murmured softly with a smile as she caught sight of one of herself and a perky looking blonde both wearing long dress coats and with one arm each around each other's waists and waving to the camera- they were on ice skates. Another one now of her with a man.. she sat in his lap twisted to face the camera but her face was tipped up and her eyes were fixed on his and he sat perpendicular to the camera so you could see his profile but his eyes were trained down on hers and both of them were grinning. The dimples were in her cheeks and her dark eyes had a glow in them that even the black and white of the picture couldn't hide. She smiled softly as she removed another bound book in leather. _The Shiz! _was splashed across the front in bold letters and she opened it to a picture of the school as it had been that year. Going further in the book fell open of its own accord to the section of larger pictures that represented the third year fellows and ladies. Their pictures were together as their last names both began with T's. _"My name is: Elphaba Thropp, I'm called: Elphie, Fae I've got - 21 candles, My Game is: Life Sciences, My Last Words: "You'll be with me, like a handprint on my Heart // Kiss me goodbye, I'm Defying Gravity!" _By other pictures, people had signed their names.. Within that page a long dried rose was pressed and so was a red ribbon.

She smiled and put the book aside and pulled out yet another artifact - the one she had been looking for when she began this search, in fact. It was a creamy colored paper that had held up a bit better than the rest and had a music staff with the notes on it as well as words along the bottom beneath the staff lines. She chuckled at the messy notes scribbled all over the pages in the margins and headings of the friends scrawling notes to each other as they had practice the song. She read it quickly, remembering those days as if they were yesterday. "Hurry up! We're going to be late!" a voice shattered her concentration and she stood up and walked towards the door taking this paper with her and she handed it to the person who had beckoned her with a bittersweet smile. "Remember this?" She inquired.

"Of course.. how could a forget?" the voice responded, amused.

_**Seasons of Love**_

Original Lyrics: Elphaba Thropp

Composed by: Avaric, and ShenShen

Arranged by: Pfanee, Boq, Crope, and Tibbett

Performed by: The Charmed Circle

~*~

Ensemble: Elphaba, Fiyero, Glinda, Boq, Avaric, Nessarose, Pfanee, ShenShen, Milla, Crope, Tibbett

525,600 minutes

525,000 moments so dear

525,600 minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee?

In inches, in miles, in laughter and strife?

In 525,600 minutes.. how do you measure a year in the life?

How about Love? How about love? How about love?

Measure in Love

Seasons of Love, Seasons of Love

Female Soloist: _[s]Glinda[/s] you do this, __**Elphie**_

Soloist one (woman)

525,600 minutes

525,000 journeys to plan

525,600 minutes

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?

Male Soloist: Fiyero, _Can you hit this, Yero? __**Yes**_

In truths that she learned?

Or in times that he cried?

Bridges he burned

Or the way that she died?

Ensemble:

It's time now to sing out

though the story never ends

Let's celebrate

Remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the loooovee

Female Soloist 2: Milla

Oh you got to you got to remember the love

Ensemble:

Remember the Love (Repeat 2X)

Female Soloist 3: Nessarose

You know love is a gift from up above

Ensemble: _This is confusing? Where's the repeat? Revise here._

Remember the Love (2X)

Female Soloist 4: **Glinda**_Four octaves...__**OW! Not in my EAR! **__Sorry, Avaric._

Measure

Measure your life in

Looooooveeee

Ensemble:

Seasons of Love (2X)

End together, fade out.


	2. Horror and Hollyhocks

~*~

It was hot. Too hot. The heat felt like it was a tangible thing, pressing down on her small, angular body. She could feel sweat trickling down the inside of her shift against her skin and she struggled against her mother's restraining arms. Didn't her mother understand that it was much too hot to be cuddled like this? She didn't like being held. Perhaps it was unnatural for a child of her age, but she was too young to appreciate psycho analysis at this point in her life. All she knew was that she had never been particularly fond of hugging and cuddling. Perhaps it was because she could understand that these hugs, even at her young and tender age, were not real, the feelings behind them were not true.. not really. Children always know after all and Elphaba was no exception. In fact, the truth was, three years of living in a world that had not prepared for her or wanted her were enough to convince her that senseless displays of emotion were ridiculous.

She was, if possible, the most hardened three year old in Oz. All Elphaba knew was that they had been in this carriage for ever too long. She was used to running amok through Rush Margins all day long, the grass tickling the soles of her feet which she refused to wear shoes on. After all, what was the point of shoes- they got in your way and hindered true exploration and were uncomfortable. They didn't feel as nice as your natural feet running through the thick, lush stuff. Of course.. this summer there had been less of the thick lush stuff and she was unsure why. She'd heard her parents mentioning a word she didn't know a lot. It was a long word that started with a D. What was it? Dr..drought? Yes that was it. She didn't know what drought meant exactly but she did know it was a bad thing from the tone her father always used when he talked about it. Whatever it was, the word displeased her father and that was always a fearsome thing. She had learned early on that displeasing Frex was a bad thing to do. It resulted in a lecture. In all her three years of living, she had had the distinct impression that she was unwanted and out of place. Perhaps this was why she had said no words until after her second birthday...

Elphaba whined impatiently and squirmed around on the seat. It was hard and her feet didn't touch the floor of the carriage because, even as tall as she was (taller than average for a three year old girl), her feet still couldn't reach. That meant the edge of the carriage seat cut painfully in her knees and she jiggled her feet with their pinching, uncomfortable black shoes with the little silver buckles. They felt like they had pins and needles in them from sitting for such a long time and everything in her just wanted to get down and run and play- but this wouldn't be permissible, she had a sad sinking kind of feeling in her chest. They had played a rousing game of hide and go seek at the carriage depot several hours earlier. She couldn't see why her father hadn't enjoyed it, but he didn't seem to have. It had worked like this. Elphaba had ran and hidden in behind a luggage rack and waited on her father to come find her... but he didn't seem too happy when he finally had. Why not? He liked hide and go seek... Perhaps he just wasn't in the mood to play today.

Her mother certainly wasn't going to play. She was fat. Elphaba hadn't really noticed her mother's weight gain until the day that her mother could no longer corral Elphie and sit her on her knees to brain her hair, which already reached Elphie's waist and was unmercifully thick. Elphie was used to being subjected to the pain and torture of day to day hair combings, but even combing it every day it got what her mother called "Rat's Nests" another term she didn't understand. She had tried to tell her mother that her hair didn't have rats in it.. that hadn't worked and she'd just been at the un-mercy of the brush again. However, one day, when her mother had sat her down, her stomach had been too big for Elphie and she'd gone right into the floor. That was the first time she noticed something truly different. She also noticed that her mother couldn't run and chase her the way she used to.. That meant that Elphaba was mostly free these days.. she could do as she pleased.

Elphie whined loudly and shifted position trying to get away from her mother. Her little eyebrows pulled down in displeasure and there was an obvious pout on her face. They had been riding for hours and she needed to potty and she needed to stretch her legs that were going to sleep. Was this ever going to end? It felt as though they had been riding forever. Well, to her it would since they had been in the carriage from Illswater Rush Margins since before the sun had risen that morning. Then they had been going north and west and so it looked like the sun never moved in the sky- it felt as though they were racing the sun west and it was some kind of an illusion that Elphaba didn't like. Gone was the comforts of a cool drink of milk and the apple she had had that morning at the carriage way station before they began their journey. Really, she was just miserable. She couldn't remember ever being subjected to something like this. No one had ever said what this was even for.

They had pretty much ignored her the whole ride. All that kept coming up was something called Col... what was it? Colwen.. Grounds? She didn't know what this Colwen Grounds was and right at the moment she didn't care.. she just wanted an escape.. it was too hot to be cramped in here like this... mother took up a whole seat to herself and still Elphaba had to squeeze in somewhere and that meant that Turtle Heart and Papa had to sit on the seat across which was awkward - there wasn't enough room to stretch your legs or sit up exactly straight because of the roof - at least for them.. but neither of_ them_ seemed to be complaining about this.

And then something caught her sight.. out of the corner of her eye.. green grass! It was soft- the way she remembered.. it wasn't parched and dry like the ground in the southern edge of Munchkinland.. no it was green and good and wonderful.. a teasing breeze of cool air worked its way through the slightly open window of the carriage and Elphaba whined even more and managed to get away from Melena and get off the seat. She let out a colossal fuss as she attempted to get away from Turtle Heart, who had gently grabbed her and set her on the seat between him and Papa... that was worse.. lots worse.. there wasn't room for the two of them on the bench, let alone her-despite the small amount of room which she took up. She fussed in even more frustration now as she reached a hand towards the tiny crack in the window and squirmed wildly, now on the verge of tears and a temper tantrum in her desperation to let the adults know she was NOT pleased with this situation.

Peerless Thropp absent-mindedly fanned himself with a handful of papers from his desk, glancing out the window. It was one of the hottest days Colwen Grounds had seen in quite some time, a fact that normally would have irritated him. Today, however, Peerless' mood was elated- his granddaughter was coming to visit, an event that was all too rare. He didn't quite care for her husband, Frix or Frell or whatever his ridiculous name was, but she was also bringing her daughter Elphaba along, and Peerless had been looking forward to meeting her for quite some time.

Were he to be completely honest with himself, he would have to admit that his family had become somewhat of a let-down. He'd been counting on Melena or Sophelia taking over his place as the Eminent Thropp, but... time had proved him wrong. And now that he was getting older, his family rarely visited him, content to leave him by himself at Colwen Grounds as they lived their lives far away. He'd practically had to beg Melena to come for this visit, and she definitely hadn't been the easiest person to convince.

A sudden commotion at the gates alerted him to his family's arrival. Pushing his paperwork aside, Peerless stood up and began to make his way to the door.

Elphaba looked up in surprise as she saw that the carriage had stopped and she wondered, mercy upon mercy, if this could possibly mean that they were done and she would be free at long last to stretch her legs. Elphaba whined even more viciously and tried to get loose. "I. Want. Down!" She exclaimed, her deep, chocolate brown eyes furious in her pensive green face. She struggled frantically against her father's stiff handhold. "Let me down!"

Peerless stared out the front window at the carriage, anxious to see his great-granddaughter for the first time. "Melena!" he called out, strolling out to meet them as they left their carriage.

"Elphaba." Frex finally said in exasperation as his daughter made another bid for her freedom.. well he didn't suppose he could blame her.. she'd been sitting still all day but... couldn't she be good just a few moments longer? Really was it so unrealistic to want her to hold still for a few hours? Well the answer was yes, but Frexspar didn't think of it in those terms.. He was, after all, not three.

Elphaba was not the only cranky person on board. Melena had not going her regular afternoon nap an that meant that she was NOT a happy camper at this point. She had gotten highly used to her afternoon 'naps' and to have to go without one- even this late in her pregnancy put her in a very stale humor and he knew better at this point than to get into it with her. He was also feeling quite disconcerted about the fact that before long they would be seeing his grandfather in law- a person who he knew definitely was not his biggest fan in fact, the two didn't' like each other at all and they hadn't spoken since the shouting match that had wound up with him and Melena eloping to Rush Margins. Without the Eminence's consent.

That had not been a very good night in either of their books and given the heat, Melena's crankiness, and Turtle Heart's awkwardness at being dressed up in a suit and dragged further north than he'd ever been and Frex's not wanting to see His Eminence and knowing that that would be impossible since they'd be staying in his... mansion... well there was no other word for it.. well let's put it this way- heat was not the only thing making tempers flare in the confines of the carriage.

Peerless' nose wrinkled in distaste as he saw his grandson-in-law's face in the carriage. Great... he was not looking forward to dealing with /him/ for the entirety of this visit. "Welcome!" he said anyways, pasting a forced smile of politeness on his face.

Turtle Heart was the first to exit from the carriage and, feeling highly awkward, he merely gave the Eminence a small nod. He would have done anything to avoid this.. In fact, he had told Frex straight out he wouldn't come.. but then well.. he knew how Melena could be and when he told her she had broken down and started crying and he'd felt so altogether horrible that he had reconsidered, though unwillingly .. and agreed to come along. Something hinted to him that that had been her plan all along, but he was too gentlemanly to point this out.

Elphaba, at this point, dived over her father's feet and out of the carriage and then let out a wail of disapproval as pain shot through her knee where she had cut it on the metal step down on the carriage. She was now sitting in the gravel lane that led up to Colwen Grounds in the lee side of the carriage so no one could see her and the carriage dwarfed out even the huge manor house behind her - she didn't care.. all she DID care about was that red blood was seeping down her knee and her tights had a hole in the knee now.. She sniffled.

Peerless smiled warmly at the site of the tiny, energetic three year old dashing out of the carriage and tumbling down into the gravel. Upon seeing her hurt, he dashed forward to help, but paused in surprise as she looked up at him and he had a clear view of her face. She was... green.

He'd never seen a green person before, ever. It was different, but not necessarily bad. She was still adorable as far as three year olds went, and to him her odd shade of skin served to lend a peculiar beauty to her looks, rather than making her look different or strange. "Hello there!" he said warmly, beaming down at her and helping her up. "You must be little Elphaba."

Elphaba ran her fingers through the blood on her knee and then sucked on them. It was these kinds of things that made people just a little bit scared of her. However, she was distracted from this when she heard someone say her name. She slowly, oh so slowly, let her eyes look up to see the person that had said her name. Her face was thoughtful and her brown eyes were very deep. Her face held a kind of understanding of the world that a three year old face should never know. Pain. Frustration.. and a lack of total innocence.

Elphaba swallowed when she realized she had never seen this person before and, given that Turtle Heart had already exited the carriage and he was familiar and safe.. she stood up and ran towards him with her socks falling down to the ground and got in behind his legs and peered around at the much taller man from behind the safety of the glassblower. She would sloowwwlly peek around and then dart back behind him. For all the world Turtle Heart wished _he_ were three and could do the same.

Peerless smiled in amusement. He was used to getting this sort of reaction from people- something about his appearance or bearing was intimidating and made other people feel like running and hiding.

Turtle Heart sighed .. the awkwardness, at least for him, was tangible.

Melena, by this time, had made her way out of the carriage.. this had taken considerable effort given that she was... well.. huge. She was out of breath from the small effort of getting out of the carriage and her brow was slicked with sweat - as was her brown hair, making it look several shades darker than it truly was. "Grandfather." She said in greeting, though she did not smile. Perhaps smiling was too much work. Once again, as it had been when Elphaba was born.. she felt like nothing more than host to whatever was feeding off her from inside.

It was odd to hear Melena call him Grandfather- he'd never felt particularly like a grandfather to her. In fact, he felt more like a grandfather to this little child than he did to Melena. Perhaps it was because she'd always been so... frivolous and simpering and altogether unlike him. He nodded in greeting, and then smiled again at Elphaba. "I'm your great-grandfather," he said, attempting to coax her out from behind Turtle Heart.

Turtle Heart finally spoke. "Hello sir.. I to am a friend of your grand daughter's." He said, tipping his cap in respect. Turtle Heart never had become completely comfortable with the Ozian dialect as Quadling had its own language patterns.

Elphaba looked up in surprise as the man addressed her again and she peeked out to get a better look. He was very, very big.. Elphaba, of course, was too young to understand that royal blooded Munchkinlanders /were/ tall. All she could see at this point was that he was a very big person seeming to tower over her. He had shoulder length white hair held back in a clasp at the back of his neck, queue style .. and he had deep down eyes. - similar to her own though she was also not old enough to make this connection either.

Shyly she took a couple of steps from behind Turtle Heart as she looked towards the man and then gestured to her bleeding knee though did not speak and did not cry. She just sniffled a little bit and kept looking at that knee and her ruined tights and thinking about her father's displeasure as he watched the scene.

Peerless was a bit puzzled as to why Melena and Fritz weren't doing anything to comfort their daughter who was clearly in pain. Melena just looked annoyed, and her husband looked more displeased than concerned. It frustrated him to see how uncaring his granddaughter had turned out to be. "Would you like to come inside and let us clean that up for you?" he asked kindly.

Elphaba looked up at him thoughtfully, obviously fighting that battle inside herself. Some noted Ozian Psychologist infinitely smart... Erikson? Had it been? had come up with eight stages of development and Elphaba was missing the first. .. Trust versus Mistrust. This stage was meant to form in infancy, the idea that the child could count on whoever his or her caregiver was to provide for his or her needs- that had never happened for her. She was constantly confused and questioning of the persons in her life and whether or not she was allowed to put any faith in them.

"Well go on then, Elphaba." Melena said in frustration. She couldn't understand why her daughter had turned out so pensive and silent and elusive and... cold... why she never warmed up to anyone! - Of course, Melena never bothered to think about the fact that this was mostly her own fault.

"Kay." Elphaba said, watching him from beneath her ebony black bangs.

He led the child inside, where one of his servants proceeded to wash her knee off. "I'm afraid there's not much we can do for the tights," Peerless said apologetically.

Elphaba looked up at him with one of those sneaky _I'm up to no good_ looks on her face. "If they rip... I can take them off yes?" She inquired, with a too sweetly innocent look.

"I suppose so," Peerless gave her a conspiratorial wink. Melena and Frick wouldn't like it, but then... perhaps that was just an added bonus.

Elphaba's small mouth turned up in amusement and she lifted her finger to her odd greenish-grey lips in a sign of quiet. She was a very quiet child.. it was one of the first things you could notice about her. She would usually respond if spoken to directly but, there was something disconcerting about her - as though there wasn't much child in her and maybe never had been. She walked with a perfectly straight back and stiff posture and her little face was always serious, her eyes wide, observant and pensive.

"Close your eyes." She instructed somewhat bossily as a three year old will. "And no peek." she warned, looking at him over her shoulder with what would have been, had she been a few years older, a very scary glare.

Once she made sure that he had closed his eyes and was not peeking, she sat down and removed the tights she'd been forced into earlier that morning. She pulled them off, bit by bit as her dexterity and small fingers couldn't quite managed waist high stockings without effort yet. She did finally get the ripped tights off and then discarded her uncomfortable shoes to the floor. "Okay." She said, leaving the tights on the floor by the shoes as any child would do.

Peerless turned back around, looking at the small child in amusement. She was vastly different from Melena- that much was apparent already. And she was nothing like her pious, stick-up-his-rear father. Where did such a delightful, odd child come from?

Suddenly... there was a yell from outside... a scream of pain. Elphaba jumped and looked up at him with huge brown eyes taking that reference cue from him for how to react. Then it crossed her mind that the scream sounded an awful lot like her mother's voice.

Peerless's head turned sharply towards the window upon hearing Melena's scream. What had happened?

Elphaba took off down the hall where they had come towards the outside.

It appeared that the carriage ride added to the head of the day and such had just been too much for the woman and now she was crouched over supported by Frex on one side and Turtle Heart on the other. She managed a look up when Elphaba appeared in the doorway - tightless and shoeless - of course.. the little wench had already gotten rid of half her clothes and made herself look unpresentable in front of her great grandfather... - followed by Peerless Thropp. Lovely.. this just got more awkward all the time didn't it. Her cheeks went scarlet though no one could tell if it was the fact that it was hot, that she was embarrassed, that she was angry, or the fact that a large dark spot was blooming across the waist of her dress. Apparently the baby wasn't going to wait any longer.

Peerless gazed at his granddaughter wearily. Was she making a scene just to reclaim everyone's attention? Or was something actually wrong... And then he saw the blood. Immediately, Peerless began ordering his staff to make preparations.

In the commotion and hubbub of putting Melena into a bedroom where she would be able to wait out her labor and Frex and Turtle Heart worrying about Melena and Peerless taking care of the staff's preparations, Elphaba was completely forgotten and left to her own devices and she decided to explore this strange place that she now connected to be named Colwen Grounds. For a three year old, she was exceptionally perceptive and could understand a great deal. She already knew all her letters and could read simple words - such as her name and things like cat, rat, and dog. However, being born into a family where she wasn't wanted, seemed to be partially made up for by her nature.. her intelligence.. it was strange, weird...

She looked around for a few moments and then, when she realized no one was there to stop her, ran off away from the gravel drive as her young eyes took in the largest house she had ever seen. They lived in a tiny house in Rush Margins and the nicest things were her mother's cedar chest covered with it's lace cover... nothing like this splendor. She didn't know what to think of that... it was a little bit intimidating.. but then she got over her intimidation when she saw that everything here was green. The drought was severe but apparently not as bad the further north in Oz you went.

The house in and of itself was actually part of a park and not in the city- there weren't big cities in Munchkinland- or at least not in the style of the Gillikin, but there were towns and such- this wasn't in one- it was at least ten miles away from the nearest village square. It was set off to its own devices for the privacy of the monarch and his or her family who lived there. There were woods and trees and endless grassy sloping hills in front of and behind the hills and Elphaba could smell her favorite sweet - fresh, ripe blackberry brambles near the edge of the big woods. A long white gravel driveway led up to the front of the house and did an in the round turn with a fountain in the middle. There was a huge wrought Iron gate with the Thropp crest in the center of it. Behind it sat the huge white manor house that sprawled across the hill.. there were gardens and little benches and more fountains... it was nothing like she could have imagined.

She first ran off into the edge of the woods to investigate the blackberries. She was hungry from her day long trip and, once she saw no one was going to afford her something to eat, she sampled the blackberries. Of course, she wasn't very good at picking and the dark juice ran down her hands and made them sticky and got all over her nice white pinafore, staining it purple- her tongue and lips and chin were stained with the juice too - but my they were good!!!!

Peerless left the servants to the bustling preparations, searching for the wayward three year old. Chances were that she'd taken this opportunity to slip off and get into some kind of mischief. Colwen Grounds was so large that she could be just about anywhere.

The blackberries made Elphaba feel quite full and after she had finished them she set off across the vast green "jungle" (yard) and headed off not sure even where she was going as she trekked somewhere- as it turned out she wound up in a giant garden penned in by four brick walls upon which ivy was growing. There were the most... big.. flamboyant flowers she had ever seen growing- covering every surface... magenta, pink, purple, brilliant lemony yellow, bright blue and white.. "Pretty." She whispered in awed surprise as she went into the garden and examined one of the flowers... but she did not pick it for then she knew that it would die. It would have no roots left to live for it and so she resisted, though she desperately wanted to pick one - especially the yellow ones...

She sat down amid the blossoms and let them cover her, using them as a perfect camouflage because of her green skin- she so easily could have just been a part of the plant as she settled down and looked around her. But.. soon.. began to feel sleepy. She'd missed out on her usual nap. A few seconds later she was asleep under the hollyhocks.

Wandering across his expansive grounds, Peerless finally came across Elphaba asleep under the hollyhocks. He wondered whether or not he should wake her... She seemed content lying in the shade of the hollyhocks, and goodness knew her life would be changed soon enough. How would Melena and her no-good husband treat Elphaba once they had another healthy child to look after? And what if the child wasn't green? Elphaba would slip between the cracks, the second-best child to parents who cared all too much about her appearance and how it reflected on /their/ appearance.

The afternoon wore on with Elphaba sleeping in her shady, mossy spot in the warm afternoon son... she and Peerless were only disturbed by the growing dusk of the late afternoon and eventually Elphaba sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around having the look on her face as though she didn't quite know where she was for the moment.

As Elphaba woke up, Peerless smiled back at her. "Enjoy your nap?" It was time that they head back to the mansion, but would she want to be around the house if her mother was still in labor?

Elphaba nodded and raised her hands to her eyes to rub them. "Horrors." Elphaba murmured, pointing one green finger over the garden wall towards the southern sky.

Peerless nodded. "Yes, childbirth isn't pretty." He didn't know that she wasn't referring to the scene unfolding in the mansion. "Shall we head back to the house now?"

She didn't deign to answer but got to her feet to follow him. She was surprised that he didn't seem to mind that she had managed to saturate her /clean/ dress with staining juice. He was nice.. whoever this man was that called himself her grandfather. She looked up at him suspiciously for a minute, wondering if it were a facade that would end.. but in a child trust always wins out.. as an adult you grow and eventually you get to a point where trust won't win out after you've been beaten enough times... She hadn't hit that place yet.

Elphaba held out one tiny, sticky hand for his larger one.

He took her berry-covered hand in his, making a mental note to have the servants scrounge up some clean clothes that would fit a three year old. They walked back to the mansion, Peerless privately hoping that the childbirth was over by now.

However, they couldn't be so fortunate... trouble was brewing now. As soon as they entered the mansion's ivy covered door into the cool and shade of the entry hall they were nearly pounced upon by a terrified looking servant in maid attire.. "Your Eminence... the Miss is getting bad.. I think we oughta be calling for a doctor sir."

Peerless nodded, eyes widening in concern. He had never been particularly close to Melena but he found himself afraid for her life. "Of course. Summon one of the men and have them ride into the village," he ordered the servant.

The woman curtsied once and skittered into the hall. A second later, Turtle Heart, cloak in hand looking worried and much more pale than his usual rosy complexion, ran through the entrance hall without a backward glance and out into the glowing sunset. It was a burning ball of fire in the western horizon now and Elphaba looked into the sun... watching the shape of Turtle Heart. "Horrors." She whispered again softly.

Peerless kept a tight hold on Elphaba's hand, not wanting her to worry about her mother's dilemma. "It'll be all right," he assured her. In truth he didn't know if it would be all right, but he felt it was important to lie to the youngster.

The rest of the evening passed in solemness and quietness. Elphaba picked up on the attitude and ate very little of her dinner despite how delicious it was. She wasn't used to such lavish food and it was surprising how well she could handle a knife and fork and spoon. Her favorite were the chocolate covered strawberries they had for dessert. She avoided her green beans in favor of them much to Frex's discontent but he said nothing given he was anxious to return to Melena's bedside and no one knew what had become of Turtle Heart and the doctor for neither had returned.

Frex went back to Melena's side and Elphaba followed her Grandfather to his study like a small, green shadow. Hours dragged and it turned dark outside. Eventually one of the maids came and suggested she ready Elphaba for bed.

Peerless nodded and let the servant escort Elphaba out of his study and to her bedchamber. It was odd, he reflected, that he was ending the day the way it had begun- sitting in his study, fanning himself with documents that he should have been pouring over instead. Unlike earlier, however, his lack of attention was due to his growing concern for Melena rather than the unnerving heat.

It was probably about ten to fifteen minutes later that - from upstairs.. there came an almighty screech of fury- the sound of a three year old screaming. Strictly speaking the sound of a three year old who would have made all the Ozmopolitan Opera first Sopranoists jealous... her scream was loud and it was literally /piercing/ to the ears...

Peerless's head jerked towards the sound of the screaming three year old. What now? He ventured into the hallway to see if any of the servants had discerned what was going on.

A second later two maids.. both grey haired.. who had distinctly NOT been grey haired before... and who were missing their (singed off) eyebrows.... ran into the hallway looking white as ghosts and terrified.. their aprons were singed too - and their green uniforms were mussed. They both looked scared speechless... and then from upstairs there was a hiss and a cat in black and white streaked down the steps, tail up, bottle brush thick.

Peerless' jaw dropped open. "What... happened?" he asked weakly. It seemed they had lost their voices and they just pointed with the shell shocked look of soldiers who'd seen war towards the stairs... Peerless climbed hesitantly up the stairs, not exactly sure he wanted to see what was going on in Elphaba's room.

From the doorway there was arguing and then a stressed and frustrated looking Frex strode out of the room looking displeased.

Reluctantly, one last maid - who also bore the look of the others - stepped out of the bedroom looking shocked. "Frex... doesn't want to deal with it. Not to bother them.. he said." She shrugged her shoulders. "We tried to put her in the bath... what child doesn't want a bubble bath.." She paused, "Oh how she /screamed/ well you know some children are scared of baths but the older ones they said just put her in any way and it'd come right in the end and ... we needed to get the blackberry off somehow but then... Well.. I don't rightly recollect but there was... an explosion and screaming and and and... my _haiiiiirrr_." The maid said in gulping halting speech as she reached up to touch her hair and a great clump came out in her hand.

Peerless' eyes widened in surprise. How in the world had this three year old managed all of _this_ ? He walked hesitantly into the room, calling for Elphaba. "Elphaba? Elphie? Is everything... all right?"

Elphie was crouching silently in a towel as far away from the bath tub as she could possibly get and, given the water was still running, the bubbles were EVERYWHERE - flowing over the sides of the tub, floating up to the mirror, and there was a good two or three inches of water in the floor near the tub... there were so many suds that everything looked covered in a bubbly snow... There Elphie stood in the midst of it all with a towel as big as she was draped about her shoulders. Undressed she really did look like some kind of odd grasshopper-child hybrid. She was unnaturally tall, at least for a three year old, and painfully skinny. Her knees were knobby and you could see her ribs and spine.

Elphie didn't deign to answer. She just crossed her arms across her thin little chest and glared her response.

Peerless couldn't figure out for the life of him why she was perched this way, wrapped in a towel and staring furiously at the water. "What's the matter?" he asked cautiously.

"Water." She said simply, glaring at the runny stuff as one might glare at a flask of poison.

"Are you... afraid or water?" he asked curiously.

"It hurts." She said simply. "Burn." Her brown eyes were wide, trying to make him understand the importance of this fundamental statement.

"Water hurts you?" he said, trying to understand.

She nodded in response.

"I see... so baths aren't a good idea?"

"Well, we still need to get you clean," Peerless said, frowning. "But how do to do that without water? Should I perhaps call for Nanny and see what she normally does in this situation? Or do you prefer to run around covered in berries all day?"

Elphaba giggled low, "Not water... other stuff." She pointed out sensibly. "If no use water use something different."

"All right then," he smiled. "Why don't we go get Nanny and have her do... whatever it is she does."

She nodded agreeably.

A few minutes later, Nanny bustled into the room with a small smirk on her face, "So I uh... trust that our Elphie has made a great work of your maids?" She inquired, silently amused.

"I think this has been the most exciting day they've ever had working for me," he said in amusement. "Normally I'm so boring to work for... they're probably grateful for the adventure."

Nanny just smirked somewhat. She was a rotund woman with a ruddy face and silvery hair piled in a bun on her head. She was in her fifties now and she'd thought privately that she deserved to retire for a long time now she'd done her job and brought Melena up. Lurline didn't seem to agree. "Ahh.. as Nanny was telling Frex and Melena.. children are so divine aren't they?"

"Little Elphaba certainly seems to be," he agreed. "Now.. how do we go about getting this berry juice off of her?"

"Oil." Nanny said simply. "It's the opposite of water. Used to bathe her in cow's milk but the stuff smelled so horrible." She wrinkled her nose. "So Nanny started experimenting." She said, reaching into her apron pocket and pulling out a bottle of sweet scented oil. Nanny, being of an older mind and not approving of "stay at home fathers" so to speak, with-took Elphaba to a different room to clean her up and put her in her clean nightgown. It really was getting to be too small for her and showed her ankles below the hem.. but she supposed she could talk to Frex about it later. Elphaba really wasn't getting the proper care she had been while Nanny had lived with them and though she didn't relish the thought of returning to Rush Margins....

Once she had finished preparing Elphaba for bed she lifted the young girl down. Her eyes were beginning to droop and she was clean from her still damp hair to her little toes. "Now you run along and say goodnight to your Grandfather." She instructed, still able to hear the man waiting in the hallway outside.

Elphaba ran to the doorway and peeked around.. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight," Peerless replied. "Why don't you get some sleep, and then in the morning you might have a new brother or sister."

Elphaba's eyes narrowed somewhat malevolently. "I don't want one." She responded.

"I don't think you really have a choice," Peerless pointed out tactfully. It was strange talking to Elphaba, almost as if he were talking to a grown-up in a three-year-old body.

"Yes I do.. " She said. "I'm gonna tell Mama to put it back where she got it from."

"I don't think that's exactly... possible." Peerless struggled to hide the smile that was threatening to cover his face.

"She got it from somewhere." Elphaba pointed out in perfect three year old reason. "And if that doesn't work ... I'll take it to the market and sell it."

"Listen, Elphaba," Peerless began, turning in his chair to face her. "You can't sell your baby brother or sister- your mother wouldn't like that. I know you're used to being alone, and to having all of your mama and papa's attention, but you're going to have to share now."

Elphaba's eyebrows pulled down even more and she walked closer to his chair, "That no why I don't want one." She responded.

"Then why don't you?" he asked curiously. "You'll have a friend to play with, and someone to talk to."

"Because they forget about me." She said simply.

"Who will? Your parents?"

"Yes."

"They won't forget about you..." But Peerless knew this wasn't necessarily true. A healthy child with normal skin and a normal disposition... Frex and Melena would lavish them with the attention they'd starved Elphaba of for years.

"Don't lie to me." She instructed her back stick straight and her eyes boring into his.

"They might not forget about you," he amended.

Elphaba nodded.. this she would accept. She held his gaze for several moments before she turned, "I sleep now." She told him, waving little green fingers as she disappeared into her bedroom and Nanny took her in and tucked her in the bed - bigger than Elphie had ever slept in at home since, in the smaller house, she had a trundle.. this was a real bed.

Nanny tucked her in and then exited, leaving the door a tiny bit open so the light from the hall candelabras shown in.

Peerless contemplated going to sleep, but he knew that with Turtle Heart and the doctor still unaccounted for, Melena still in torturous labor, and Frex was... who knew?

The night drug on.. it was one of those nights that was simply destined to be a long night. One of those nights were the clocks never seemed to move and it took forever for the huge grandfather clock in the gallery to get to its next hour's chiming. When you dealt with that clock on a daily basis, you became assimilated to it and just forgot about it and, of course, didn't wake up at night when it struck the hour.. but tonight it seemed never to make it from hour to hour as time passed so slowly. It was a dead night and there wasn't even a moon to light the dark sky. It was pitch dark outside and the trees on the edge of the park that made up Colwen Grounds could barely be seen. What could be seen of them made them look like witchy skeletons flailing. The wind was blowing and it was going to storm soon. Huge thunderheads piled in the sky in a menacing way and the wind whistled mournfully over the grasses below the house down in the gullies of the woods and sounded like a screaming child in the night. The wind moaned and cried and wept as if it had a life all its own and it was creepy

It hadn't rained a good deal for a long time and the threat of rain was eminent- you could smell it... and the people in the nearby village were desperate for rain.. for their crops and their homes.. they'd try anything it seemed.. they DID try anything.

The little green child looked stark in the huge bed with the big blankets wrapped around her but, despite being place with two pillows to either side of her in an attempt to keep her from moving around in the bed, the girl rolled and tossed and turned and her forehead and skin broke out in sweat and she moaned and whimpered in her sleep as her mind tortured her inwardly of the things she had seen in the sun that day - visions of horror too great for any three year old to know. She moaned and cried and cried.. not knowing what to do or whom to reach out to as she slept.

The grandfather clock struck three. Witching hour. Wind blew through the halls of the manor house and whipped the door of the balcony in Elphaba's room shut with a sickening _CRASH!_ and the rattling of glass panes as wind will whip an open door around. It had been left open by Nanny to try to dispel a little of the too intense for sleeping, heat from the room - now it had blown shut with a sickening snap! of its own accord. The figure, looking very small in the big, adult sized bed, sat up so fast she might have hyper extended something. her brown eyes had shot open at the sound of the gun blast. Or that was what it sounded to her.. maybe it was? Who was to know.. Her breathing came too fast and her little hands made vise like claws around the sheets as burning tears of terror poured down green cheeks and she took gulps of air. It felt as though the room was spinning around her. She cried and gulped and cried and had not even a teddy to clutch to save her from the terrifying nightmares that she couldn't separate from reality. Perhaps unable to separate them from reality due to her age, but also perhaps because of the reality...

A bright red glow infused the horizon and bathed the sky in red.. in the hall she heard whispering voices of woman. .maids.. something they whispered below ears- but not too low for a "little pitcher with big ears" to hear.. something about a human sacrifice in the village.... the flames grew in the southern sky higher and higher and the clouds raced faster and faster towards them as the thunder broke...

Peerless was growing worried. The servants were talking in hushed whispers of a sacrifice in the village... there were flames in the distance... and the thunderstorm was coming even closer. He heard crying coming from Elphaba's chambers and rushed over to her door, knocking slightly and peering in to her room. "Elphie? Is everything all right?"

She didn't reply but buried herself in the covers of her bed.

He walked over to her bed and sat on the end, pulling the covers back gently. "What's the matter?"

Elphaba looked up at him, her face small and frightened.. and she whispered a single word... the same she had whispered earlier in the afternoon.. "Horrors." and suddenly it came full circle.

"Did you have.... a nightmare?"

She made a face... "Yes... no.." She whispered. "Horrors..." She whispered, pointing towards the south - which was, incidentally, the same wall that the burning glow came from. "Horrors!" She said in an agitated, scared little voice.

"Did something happen?" he asked tentatively. How would she know? But then... she seemed to know a lot she shouldn't.

"Kill." She whispered, terrified. "Kill Turtle Heart! I saw it in the sun!"

"Did something happen to Turtle Heart? Did... _you_ do something to Turtle Heart?" Visions of the maids from earlier flashed before his mind.

Elphie shook her head instantly. "I no hurt Turtle Heart... Turtle Heart nice to Elphie... villagers kill Turtle Heart... for... for... want rain?" She added the last part tentatively.

"The villagers killed Turtle Heart? He's dead?" He didn't know whether or not to believe her, but then she'd never been wrong since he'd met her.

Elphaba nodded, obviously overcome with emotions far too complex for a three year old to understand. "Yes... fire... they burn him." She whispered. "Saw it in the sun! Elphie knew.. Elphie's fault.. Elphie no stop them!" She whispered, her small voice filled with guilt.

"Elphaba, if something really HAS happened to Turtle Heart, it isn't your fault," Peerless assured her.

She reached out and cuddled into his arms.. something she normally wouldn't've done.. but she was just too tired and terrified... "Sing... sing?" She begged softly... singing was soothing to her.

Peerless didn't sing. It wasn't that he didn't know how or that he wasn't good.. it just wasn't something he did. But for Elphaba, given the circumstances, he would try. "What kind of a song?" he asked.

"A pretty song." She responded. "'bout somewhere not here.."

"Somewhere not here..." He thought about it for a second, remembering a song he'd heard once in one of the local pubs. Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth and began to sing in the gravelly voice of a man who clearly didn't sing very often. "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby..." He looked down at her anxiously. Goodness knew he didn't need his singing to make her feel even worse.

"Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

Elphaba closed her eyes and snuggled against him letting her head nod against his chest... but when he stopped her eyes popped open.

He hurriedly kept singing, anxious for her to fall asleep. "Someday I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me... Where troubles melt like lemon drops away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me. Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly... birds fly over the rainbow, why oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, when then oh why can't I?" His voice trailed off as he looked down to see her fast asleep. Quietly, he set her back down on the bed, drawing the covers back over her sleeping form and leaving the room.

~*~

Frexspar Thropp turned over the last of the suitcases and sat on it to fasten it shut. He wasn't a good packer and Melena and Turtle Heart had done up these bags and putting them back as they had done wasn't working out increasingly well. He was unsure how they'd arrived at getting so much stuff into the bags in the first place, and let alone how he was supposed to get stuff back into them. In the basinet beside him something small and pink stirred and he looked over with a small, pained smile at the child whose robin egg blue eyes gazed back up at him and whose tiny fingers worked in reflexiveness. This child had the look of an angel about her. Frexspar knew that this child would follow in his footsteps - well maybe only proverbially... She was perfect in every way but one.. so different from Elphaba and yet.. another disappointment for Melena.. but not for him. Her disability didn't matter to him. She would be perfect and he already knew it. She was such a good baby already. Not only was she beautiful but she slept regularly and rarely fussed. The only thing that could have dampened the mood was the fact of her small legs - all tucked up under her when she had emerged for the first time into the world covered in blood and other bodily fluid- they didn't move. While he knew that most children couldn't move their legs alone- this was different. It was the kind of lack of movement that hinted that something wasn't right. A stick on the heel with a pin had produced only a weak cry as if the sensation was foggy and couldn't quite make it to her mind. She would whimper but not reflexively pull away.. it was puzzling and it worried him. Something wasn't right ...

He sighed and shook his head. He guessed they'd find out soon enough what it was. For the mean time.. Melena was still in her mourning and he couldn't tell if it had more to do with the fact that the child was another (imperfect) girl instead of her perfect boy or because of Turtle Heart's... death... he didn't want to think about that because every time he did deep feelings of guilt rose up inside his chest and it tightened on him rendering him incapable of breath and made him feel he was drowning.

He sighed a bit. What they needed to do was get Elphaba and the new baby, he had named her Nessarose, and Melena and get out of there and go back to Rush Margins before anything else involving that insidious clock happened.

He had nearly finished getting things ready when a maid appeared in the doorway and said that "his Eminence" wished to speak with Frex. Frex nodded and walked towards the door, seeing that Melena was still sobbing quietly and Nessarose was sleeping in her basinet. He had never really cared for Melena's Grandfather and had the feeling that the feeling was mutual. The ET, as Frex called him, was a stuffy old man.. aloof.. cold.. stern- who never seemed to let anyone into his heart or head. He was slow with his words but not because of a mental sluggishness. It was as if the man was holding out and choosing what he spoke aloud very very carefully, censoring his own speech, perhaps. He just... wasn't Frex's favorite person.. he was taller than Frex and highly intimidating with his silvery - white hair in a queue and brown eyes that could look frozen when he was angry. Frexspar shuddered. Quite honestly the man scared him and he wasn't impressed that he wanted to talk. Aside from that little matter, Frex didn't believe that any man other than the Unnamed God ought to bear the title of Eminent anything... What right did a man have to be Eminent? He sighed reluctantly and walked out of the bedroom towards the man's office.

Frexspar noticed Elphaba on the grounds below his window. He wouldn't've seen her at all given her green skin if not for the buttercup yellow dress she was wearing and he frowned. It was a new dress- not one he would have given her. It was a sundress with black piping and trim and a little sunbonnet and yellow sandals. No tights.. no pinafore.. and entirely too much decoration for his taste. He knew he hadn't bought a dress like that for his daughter and wondered who had. He filed this thought away for further examination as he arrived at his destination and knocked on the office door. "You wished to see me, sir." He refused to call the man 'Your Eminence' and he hoped it irked him.

The lack of his honorary title in the man's address did indeed irk Peerless, but he knew that showing this would just be giving Freck what he wanted. Insolent, odious little man... what in the world was Melena thinking taking up with a _religious_ man like him? Nevertheless, he needed to ask him a favor, and he couldn't very well do that by insulting him the way he would like to.

"Very well, come in then, yes, Frit, sit down," he mumbled, gesturing vaguely towards a seat. "Now, I realize you are about to leave to return to Rush Margins." The name was said with a slight sneer of superiority, as if to say "why would you possibly prefer a place like _that_ to Colwen Grounds?"

"I have a small question to ask of you, and before I do, I would like to assure you that I mean no impertinence or offense. I've noticed since you've been here that young Elphaba has certain... qualities. Qualities that I'm sure you, as a devoted parent, have long since noted by now, no doubt. And while I'm sure you and Melena are doing a fine job of raising her," here he paused to add an invisible _yeah, right_ to the end of his words, "I was wondering if you would possibly allow the child to remain here for a while, to allow her to enjoy the luxuries of a tutor who would cultivate and guide those... qualities."

Frex's eyebrows rose.... of all the things that could possibly have been said - that was, admittedly- not one he'd been expecting. He steepled his fingers together and his eyebrows raised, "A tutor? Characteristics...?" He tried to keep a look of surprise, annoyance, and many other feelings off his face. "Sir, our daughter is no more unusual than most children she just.. happens to have a little... skin problem."

"You mean to tell me you haven't noticed the odd things that happen around her? Her aversion to water? Her unsettling ability to talk about things that haven't even happened yet? Let alone how strangely advanced she is for a three year old... and how little attention and affection she seems to get," Peerless added cautiously.

Frex's face colored in annoyance. "She gets plenty of attention. Have you ever considered she's gotten so little lately because her mother just went through a grueling thirty two hour labor for which there /should/ have been a doctor present and a dear family friend was just turned into a _sacrifice_ by the locals so it would rain?"

"I mean before that," Peerless replied, exasperated. "When she came here the poor girl was literally afraid of physical contact. Not to mention the fact that she disappeared for long stretches of time and no one seemed to notice.."

Frex gave him a defeatist glance. "What does it matter to you anyway? I've heard the things Melena's said about you."

"Oh, that I'm cold, that I'm unfeeling, that I'm a monster?" Peerless laughed harshly.

Frex looked up at him in surprise and he tried to backtrack, but his face gave him away. Those were pretty much the exact words and finally he managed stupid. "Well .. aren't you - I ! I mean.."

"What Melena thinks- indeed, what YOU think- is irrelevant right now," Peerless replied coldly. "What I want to know is if you're willing to let your little girl enjoy the benefits of being the Eminent Thropp Third Descending."

Frex's eyes narrowed as he stood up. "Then my answer is no. She's much better off being raised in a plain and simple manner with her mother and I and her sister." he said.

"Think about what's best for your child!" Peerless cried. "She has so much talent, so much potential! You can't just let her waste away in Rush Margins."

"She won't be wasting away." He said, jerking his chin upward. "When she's eighteen if she shows potential she'll go to Shiz." He said.

"Don't you want her to be ahead of the curve?"

Frex shook his head, "No. I want her to be normal. Like any other child. And I most certainly am not going to leave her to /you/." He said, before turning and stalking out of the room and shutting the door so hard that the lead panes in it rattled.

Peerless sank back down into his chair, disheartened. Couldn't Fril see that the child needed so much MORE than what he and Melena were willing to give her? She wasn't going to BE normal the way they were treating her... he shook his head and sighed, looking out the window at the sight of Elphaba playing. It was the most lighthearted he'd seen her since she came to Colwen Grounds, and he hated to think what she would become again once she was left to the devices of her parents and their new, "perfect" baby.


End file.
